Tactics in Afghanistan: right or wrong?

There are many views on the roles coalition forces are being asked to play in
Afghanistan. We hear from those inside the war-torn country as well as from
concerned outside observers

11:28PM BST 21 Jun 2008

THE BRITISH AMBASSADOR

Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, British Ambassador in Kabul: “We are here in Afghanistan as part of a 40-nation coalition, not as an independent actor reliving the Great Game. Pulling out would hand a huge propaganda victory to Islamic extremists everywhere, not just in Afghanistan. It would mean breaking our word to the Afghan people and our partners.

“The Taliban would retake the south, the warlords would come down from the north and the civil war would restart. Everything we have done here would unravel, these lands would become a haven for terrorism, and there could be millions of refugees.”

THE TALIBAN COMMANDER

Dr Safu Rahman Danesh, a Taliban commander in central Afghanistan: “The Western forces should get out as soon as possible. We have 75 per cent of the country already. We have support. Time is not important. When the foreigners withdraw, we will decide whether or not to negotiate with the government. We will see how much the Karzai administration is working for religion and how much it is working for the prosperity of Afghanistan. This is nothing to do with foreigners. They are infidels, they are our enemy, they should leave the country. We lose men, but for us dying is winning, if we die we go to a better life. If we live, we live as heroes.”

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Tribal leader from Helmand who did not want to be named: “The foreign forces are here because of the bad luck of Afghans and the disunity of Afghans. Afghans have shown that they give a teeth-breaking punch to foreigners. Now we are divided. Is there any betterment from foreigners? Do we expect anything from them, from someone with a gun? Of course not.

“It is just one of the foreigners’ lies that there would be civil war if they left. We are already in a civil war. All Afghans are victims now. When there is bombing by Nato forces, Afghans die. If there is a suicide bombing by Taliban, then Afghans die. The Afghans understand each other and slowly we will come to a better life. The foreigners should leave.”

THE SOVIET SOLDIER

Vyacheslav Kuznetsov, a veteran of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan: “Afghanistan is the worst place to conduct a war. If the British want to tackle terrorism there they should send in special forces to seek out and attack specific targets. Get in fast and out fast. If the aim is to pacify Afghanistan, you will have to kill every man, woman and child. Commiting troops to a ground war in Afghanistan is doomed to failure.”

THE TALIBAN COMMANDER

Mulla Abdul Haleem Haleem, a Taliban commander in Helmand: “These soldiers cannot bring peace but add fuel to the fire in the already volatile situation. Afghans have never liked foreigners. When it comes to British soldiers, they think they are there to settle the scores of their great-grandparents who came to occupy Afghanistan but were killed and are buried in Helmand.

“Even the children consider the British to be infidels. They believe that they are there to rule, not to bring peace. There is only one solution; Nato troops led by the US should immediately announce the date of their return.”

THE PAKISTANI MINISTER

Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, a former Pakistan interior minister: “It would be better to engage the Taliban in a dialogue than to send more troops. Force has not worked in Afghanistan and the Taliban have shown resolve. They are capable of fighting for years.

“Lack of development work has further complicated the situation. Use of sheer force was tried throughout this period and now it has not worked, another option should be tried: dialogue.”

THE BRITISH ARMY OFFICER

A senior Army officer, who did not want to give his name: “It would be quite wrong to pull out of Afghanistan just because we have a bad week as far as casualties are concerned. Our mission is to bring security to the country and to allow reconstruction and development.

“The majority of British soldiers are proud to serve in Afghanistan. There is a risk, Helmand is a dangerous place, but all of our soldiers are volunteers. They are well-trained and well-prepared for the challenges facing them.

“It is often forgotten that Nato is in Afghanistan because of 9/11. Afghanistan became a training ground for the terrorists who perpetrated those attacks and the attacks which took place in London on July 7, 2005.

“If Nato withdrew from Afghanistan, the country could become a haven for terrorists again. It would be wrong to think that the threat to Western society will disappear if Nato withdraws. We have a moral obligation to remain and help those Afghans who want a better life.”

THE WRITER

Rory Stewart, a former British diplomat in Iraq and author of The Places in Between, a best-selling travelogue on Afghanistan: “Why we are in southern Afghanistan in the first place? It was about terrorism, then to fight drugs and encourage development, then to fight the Taliban. I get suspicious when the reasons keep changing, and while all these things are worthwhile we just might not be able to achieve them.

“We can win battles and build roads and hold training sessions for the Afghan government, but that is very different from creating a stable and functioning nation.

“I think it would be sensible to have significant troop reductions over the coming five years, although that would mean giving up on counter-narcotics or dealing with the Taliban. Counter-terrorism would have to be limited to threats that only posed a direct risk to the outside world.

“We should also remember that Afghanistan is not like Iraq, it is far poorer. About 20 or 30 years of economic growth would be required to even get it looking like Bangladesh.”

THE FORMER AFGHAN MINISTER

Ali Jalali, former Afghan interior minister: “There has been increasing violence since 2006. Since then, in the absence of an overall counter-insurgency strategy, what the international community and the Afghan government are doing is not designed to win the war, rather not to lose.

“That is a major problem. There’s no campaign plan, I believe. The Taliban have suffered a lot, but they can lose men. As long as they have sanctuary across the border, you can kill thousands of them. There’s no military solution. You have to come up with a unified strategy. We need a unified command of all forces that can do three things: fighting, stabilising and peace-keeping.”

THE FORMER COMMANDER

Colonel Tim Collins, the former infantry commander: “We should stay in Afghanistan but we badly need a proper mission statement. The problem is that there is no British foreign policy, so nothing to frame the mission there. We need to understand what success would look like and what we are trying to achieve there.

“It is not for me to decide what the mission should be, but the first thing that needs to happen is for Gordon Brown and David Miliband to spend an hour together to form a foreign policy for the UK. Once they have that, they will be able to derive a defence policy and from that they will be able to establish what the mission should be in Afghanistan.

“The Government thinks it is enough to simply say that we want the good things to happen there and the bad things to stop, to make the world a better place and make happiness be apparent. But that is not a mission. They should be talking to the Afghan government about what they aspire to do, to identify what they hope to achieve and to get time frames for it.”

THE SERVING SOLDIER

Cpl Stephen Quinn, of the Royal Highland Fusiliers 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland in Helmand Province: “I arrived in theatre in March and am due to leave theatre in early October. At first I was tasked with assisting in mentoring the Afghan National Police in Musa Qala and I have recently moved on to Battle Group South Headquarters in Lashkar Gah, to work as an infantry signaller.

“The mission in Afghanistan is going well. Despite the Taliban stepping up their attacks on ISAF, American troops with the assistance of Battle Group South have pushed further south than any ISAF troops have been before. We are here to help rebuild Afghanistan and deny terrorists a safe haven, which I believe is a very worthwhile cause.

“The British public has been very supportive of our mission, the media coverage in Afghanistan is enough to give them a good idea of what is going on and why we are here. Everywhere you turn there are messages of support and parcels labelled: 'To a British Soldier’. All the guys really appreciate the things people send as it can be hard to get certain things out here, particularly in Forward Operations Bases.

“The mission in Afghanistan is justified, we are here by invitation of the government of Afghanistan, every soldier who comes here puts him or herself at risk, but they do so knowing that what they are doing is the right thing to do. It won’t be over soon and everyone here understands it is an enduring operation, but we are all committed and when it is over this will be a better place to live.”

THE SECURITY EXPERT

Dr Paul Cornish, head of the international security programme at foreign policy think tank Chatham House, said: “I think the British mission in southern Afghanistan it is worth it. For all the pain and talk of overstretch, you have to see it within the overall context of Afghanistan’s development.

“Things may not be going perfectly, but I think it is getting to the point where you can see momentum in terms of key development factors, like the numbers of children going into education, access to health services, the spread of the media and so on. There are signs of positive returns.”

THE SHADOW MINISTER

William Hague, shadow foreign secretary: “In Afghanistan we are engaged in a fight against terrorism and extremism which is a threat to us all and 106 of our finest men and women have given their lives for this cause.

“It is common ground in Britain that to achieve a stable Afghanistan we must ensure that those who are fighting and winning these battles have the equipment they need; that other Nato countries take on a greater share of the burden; and that the restrictions imposed by other countries on the way their troops are used are removed. And of great importance, the creation of a viable state is not going to succeed without a sustained effort led by the Afghan president Karzai’s government to root out corruption.

“Eventual success will depend on all of the above, and will take time. But an urgent reform needed without delay is a complete unity of military command.

“Very few military campaigns in history have been won without a unified command.”

THE DEMOCRAT

Barack Obama, Democratic presidential candidate: “Afghanistan is sliding towards chaos and risks turning into a narco-terrorist state. We need to take more resources and put them into the country. I’ve called for at least two additional combat brigades to support our efforts there. I’ve also called for at least $1 billion in non-military assistance each year.

“We’ve got an opportunity to mount a transatlantic surge in diplomacy, where our Nato allies feel more confident in our overarching strategy, feel that they’re being listened to, and may be willing to re-engage or engage further in Afghanistan in a way that right now they’re resistant to. They’re still frustrated about what’s happened in Iraq and still suspicious about US motives.”

THE REPUBLICAN

John McCain, Republican presidential candidate: “The Taliban’s recent resurgence threatens to lead Afghanistan to revert to its pre-9/11 role as a sanctuary for terrorists with global reach.

“Our recommitment to Afghanistan must include increasing Nato forces, suspending the debilitating restrictions on when and how those forces can fight, expanding the training and equipping of the Afghan National Army through a long-term partnership with Nato to make it more professional and multi-ethnic, and deploying significantly more foreign police trainers. It must also address the current political deficiencies in judicial reform, reconstruction, governance, and anti-corruption efforts.”

THE SOLDIER

Pte Hamilton, 5th Batallion, Royal Regiment of Scotland

'What we are doing here is worthwhile. It will take time but as soldiers we understand sometimes you take one step forward and two steps back. That is the nature of our job. The local people do appreciate the security we give them and to see a new school, a mosque and a health centre in this area is proving popular’